If you like beer and want to support Windsor Pride, you can do both simultaneously.
After a two-year hiatus because of COVID-19, former radio personality Greg Gynp is back with his GNIPA. This year, he's raising money for Windsor Pride.
In the past, the charity fundraiser has raised cash for the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Windsor Essex County Humane Society.
Gynp said he wanted to focus on Windsor Pride because he remembers what it was like for friends to come out in past decades.
(Photo courtesy of Chapter Two Brewing Company)
"It was hard for them. I think it's a little easier now because society is a little bit more accepting -- but I think there's still a lot of young kids who are scared," he explained. "What I wanted to do was say that it's okay. There's people in the community that will be allies, and will stand behind them, and actually care."
For him, it was an easy fit.
"My saying has been, beer is love, love is love, and I love you," he said.
Before the IPA project with Chapter Two Brewing Company, Gynp had brewed his beer on his own, but working with Brew Master Michael Beaudoin upped his game.
"I wish I had listened to my teachers at Massey Secondary School in the science program more," he laughed. "It's very precise. It's like making a cake."
Each year, the beer is slightly different. Gynp said if you like English or West Coast IPAs, you'll like this year's version.
"It's riding a really delicate balance," he explained. "It's going to have a little bit of a malty flavour but still that strong hoppy bitterness of a west coast IPA."
GNIPA is available at Chapter II until it runs out. The last batch, before the pandemic, sold out in three weeks.
It launches at 6 p.m. on Friday, July 29, at the brewery on Edna Street.
